New Hawk Ciccone Makes It His Business To Watch Out For Chelios

March 24, 1996|By Robert Markus, Tribune Staff Writer.

Chris Chelios is the last person to want or need a bodyguard. Nevertheless, he's got one now. Enrico Ciccone, the newest Blackhawk, was paired with his boyhood hero Friday night in his first game as a Hawk, and the hulking defenseman vows: "Nobody will touch Chris Chelios, that's for sure."

Though Chelios can take care of himself those are comforting words for the Hawks, who want their best player on the ice for 30 minutes or more a game and not sitting in the penalty box.

Ciccone was the most popular player in Tampa and with his roughhouse style is likely to quickly acquire a fan following in Chicago too. He once piled up 454 penalty minutes in a single season, and since becoming a regular player with Tampa Bay has been among the league leaders in time spent in the penalty box.

"The fighting part is a part of me," says Ciccone, who, like most hockey men who make their reputations with their fists, likes to think he also can play the game.

"He's a tough, tough guy who can play the game," says Jim Cummins, who played for Tampa Bay last year before being traded to the Hawks. "He's a little goofy at times, but I guess that makes him perfect."

Despite all those penalty minutes, Cummins insists that Ciccone "doesn't just take a bunch of bad penalties." Upon further review, Cummins amended, "sure, he'll take bad penalties, but at the right time."

Ask Ciccone if he fights for a purpose or for pleasure and he'll respond: "I can't tell you because I'm sitting here now. When I step on the ice I'm different. First of all, it's in me. I don't like to see someone abuse one of our players. It's the way I am."

He says he has tried to temper his hot temper this year. "In Tampa Bay they told me to stay disciplined and bring it (his penalty minutes) down. There are guys you have to pump up, and there are guys you have to bring down.

"I used to take a lot of stupid penalties, but I've changed a lot. I'm more mature. (Tampa Bay coach) Terry Crisp has really helped me develop my game. They wanted me to play a lot, and this year I've averaged almost 25 minutes. I've been killing penalties and had a lot of ice time."

Ciccone has been terrorizing opponents since he was a kid in Montreal. "I was always the biggest kid," he recalls. "I had to carry my birth certificate around because the other teams wouldn't believe my age."

Ciccone was taken by surprise at Wednesday's trade for Patrick Poulin and Igor Ulanov because "there was talk about other guys, but I never heard any about me. I was very active in the community, I had my own radio show, and I never thought I'd be moved."

Certainly not to a team that in his eyes already had plenty of toughness with Bob Probert and Cummins. "When other teams talk about the Blackhawks, they have a reputation for being pretty tough," he says. "In Tampa Bay I was alone. I was a marked man. Now that I'm here, there are four or five guys who can do it. I'm kind of happy about that."